Friday 30 June 2023
My friend Angela is arriving this afternoon from Kent via a night in Kendal. I am not expecting her before midday so my plan is to do some work this morning, as indeed I have already been doing (it’s 09:01), then a time-pressure clean and tidy, which is when I am at my most efficient.
The temperature at the moment is apparently 11°C and I don’t need the app to tell me that it’s cloudy. The house is chilly, which I think Angela will be shocked by. I know that the southeast is considerably warmer at the moment and this house does seem to thrive on coldness.
I have already been up to the water tank. The trickle is now part drip-part trickle, which is mildly concerning, but the water level is still going up, currently 73cm.
It’s a bit windy so no midges around when I just went out.
The extractor fan mouse hasn’t left its calling card (one dropping) for a few days, but I fully expect it to return.
Our postman, or maybe a different postperson to normal, took an alternative approach to delivery yesterday. For the first time ever, I received a red and white Royal Mail card saying they were unable to deliver as parcel too big for parcel bin. Nothing has ever not been delivered before. I had been in that day so they hadn’t come up the drive (but I think there’s a historical warning for our drive as there was an incident with the neighbour’s dog and a postman before we ever moved here). It said they would deliver the next day, so yesterday I kept an eye out for the post van, thinking I could try to intercept it and take delivery of the parcel. Looked out, saw the van, rushed out, van gone. However, completely out of character (really, yes, must have been a different postperson), it looked like the delivery person had got out all post for the two houses, including my large box, and kind of chucked it over the gate. So letter and all post for us and the neighbour were lying on the ground on our side of the front gate. There is a newly-resident heron who flies low, maybe the heron dived at the postperson and they took fright and just lobbed the post? Or maybe not, maybe they thought that was the best way to deal with an oversized package. Post is dealt with very differently here. Nobody ever doesn’t leave your post, having come so far from wherever the depot or sorting office is. There seem to be infinite possibilities of where and how packages are dealt with.
I went to a builder’s merchant yesterday, first time ever. I got myself a bit worked up about it, expecting to be humiliated and/or patronised and/or come away with nothing having done a runner at the slightest confusion on my part. The place I went to in Galashiels was like an office with a few smaller items on shelves (a bit like a Screwfix or similar, where most stuff is in a warehouse and needs to be fetched). I spoke to a very kind and helpful man behind the counter and told him I was very much out of my comfort zone and could he help. He was the perfect person for me to have found. He wasn’t patronising or rude or sexist, indeed he was friendly, helpful and we had a laugh, really. I actually had fun. I came away with eight blocks of concrete, a wheelbarrow, a heavy duty rake, a saw, two boxes of galvanised flat-head nails, a bag of sharp sand and a roofer’s square. Turns out I needed nine blocks of concrete (but that wasn’t my fault I got it wrong) and I think I will have to take it back anyway as I am not convinced I got the right kind of blocks for what I want. The wood and plywood I wanted, I couldn’t have got into my car and they do free local delivery so I can deal with that another day. I felt a bit useless waiting by my car for someone to load the concrete slabs into it. In my defence, I couldn’t start until someone came along as I didn’t know where to take them from. Once the man who was dispatched to load stuff into my car came out, I did think that I could help carry the blocks, but then I thought I’d just get in his way so stepped to the side and let him get on with it. All good, all fine, job done efficiently. When I got home, I thought about taking the slabs out there and then, wondering where to put them. Ahem, I half-heartedly went to pick one up. Ah, right, they’re heavier than I expected. No wonder my car felt different as I drove home. I may now leave them in the car so I can take them back, though I’ll have another look and make a crunch decision about whether or not they’ll be up to the job.
Angela, and I’m not sure how wholeheartedly she agreed to this, is going to help me with the foundations for the cabin over the weekend.
